The UK Independence Party: analysing its candidates and supporters1 WORKING PAPER March 2011 Philip Lynch (
[email protected]) Richard Whitaker (
[email protected]) Gemma Loomes (
[email protected]) Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH Abstract The UK Independence Party (UKIP) came second in the 2009 European Parliament elections, but small parties, especially those associated with a single issue, face a dilemma about how to progress. If they move too far beyond their core issue, they risk losing their niche position and support base, but if they are to grow their representation, they need to develop a broader platform. Using surveys of UKIP candidates at the 2009 European and 2010 general elections, we assess the political attitudes and views on party strategy of UKIP candidates and compare them with the views of UKIP supporters using opinion poll data. We demonstrate that UKIP’s candidates and supporters are closely aligned, with both groups placing themselves largely on the centre right, being strongly Eurosceptic, favouring tighter immigration policies and distrusting the main parties. There is broad acceptance within UKIP that the party should campaign on issues beyond EU membership, but there are differences over how to approach competition with the Conservative Party 1 The UK Independence Party: analysing its candidates and supporters The UK Independence Party (UKIP) achieved its best election performance in the 2009 European Parliament elections, coming second with 16.5% of the vote and 13 MEPs. As a ‘hard’ Eurosceptic party committed to withdrawal from the European Union (EU),2 it mobilised Eurosceptic sentiment and capitalised on the unpopularity of the main parties.